"We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Mollie Hemingway ·
Sep 21, 2010 at 9:06pm
Bob Woodward's new book on President Barack Obama is coming out and it looks to have some juicy bits.
Here's one pull quote from the president:
"We can absorb a terrorist attack"
That's probably going to go over like a lead balloon. It's just not quite what Americans are used to hearing from a president.
Other excerpts show a White House preoccupied with a different war -- hoping to avoid any comparisons to the Vietnam War.
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Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
I'll go ahead and provide the full quote from the story here:
Sep '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
I was against Obama before being against Obama was cool, and I'm trying really hard to be offended by this quote, but (Lileks take note) I can't quite manage it. We did absorb it and we are stronger. I'm sure his heart is in the wrong place but as a simple statement of fact it is so. No thanks to him and his, but there you go
Jul '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
The problem is, I am sure that Obama is not including himself or his kind in that "We". Very Olympian, Obama. Pierre Elliott Trudeau had exactly the same expression on his face when he lectured Canada's peasantry.
The really important thing is, when you choose a president, get one who approves of your Country. This is no small consideration.
Jun '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Well, that's very big of him. If I had a hardened-concrete bunker under my home, armed guards inside my home, and anti-aircraft missiles on top of my home, I'd probably feel more comfortable about it too.
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Sounds like pre-spin from a guy who knows his weak foreign policy has emboldened the people who would carry out such an attack...
Jun '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Yeah, but can America absorb another four years of Obama?
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Obama is Jimmy Carter on steroids, just as many predicted. He appears now to finish the work of destruction Carter failed to do. This time the United States might not survive.
America is stronger? Within months of 9/11, trillions of dollars vanished in collapsing equity and real estate markets. Everyone was terrified of another attack, and became risk averse. The dollar declined against the Euro, and in order to avoid complete depression, the Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan was forced to pump hundreds of billions into the economy; setting the stage for the real estate and equity bubbles that popped in September '08.
Numeric stock valuations today are almost exactly where they were eleven years ago, so - adjusting for inflation - the market is actually much lower than it was then.
We were forced to charge into Afghanistan and Iraq, pouring blood and treasure into those bottomless pits. The world hates us for it, and the Democrats, so we get no credit for all the sacrifice.
Government expanded exponentially, choking private enterprise; airports became like clogged stockyards, airlines suffered massive losses, and many freedoms we used to enjoy are in grave jeopardy.
This has been the Decade From Hell.
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
" any comparisons with the Vietnam War..." ? I wonder where the problem is, considering we won the war , but were defeated at home. So they are deluding themselves with their own flawed liberal narrative or are they much more concerned with the spin than the lives of our soldiers ? Both positions are odious and perfectly reflect the mindset they brought to Washington. That they are looking for a Walter Cronkite behind every bush but are unwilling to call out Iran for it's complicity at multiple levels shows a typical liberal love of power combined with a total lack of understanding it's use or purpose. These people really are narcissists first and patriots last. Is that as damning as old Woodward can get ?
Jul '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Not to pick on you in particular, but these people and their families didn't 'absorb' it.
By 'we' can absorb it, Obama means Michelle and him.
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Here's a good and simple idea for all future White House occupants and their staffs: Don't do interviews with Bob Woodward, you knuckleheads!
May '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Come now, Mr. Sajak. You know how it works: "If I don't talk to Woodward that rat-bastard down the hall surely will."
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Ha! Spot on, Pat. It's laughable that they'd let him in, thinking he's a fellow traveler, Bush hater, and would end up praising them. That's a good measure of their hubris. As Victor Davis Hanson so eloquently proves, Nemesis lurks in the wings with unalterable vengeance for those infected with hubris.
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Be fair. Would anyone want the president of the United States to be announcing to Woodward--and thus the world--"One more attack will finish us off?"
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Recognizing his recent historical confusions, do you think he realizes the difference between a civil war (IRA/Britain), an attack by 3rd party (Al Qaeda), and the romance of uprising (Kenya/Mau Mau) ? Or is this another of Woodward's conflations ? Where's Baghdad Bob Gibbs on this ?
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Taken in context with his refusal to secure our border, his weakened security stance as reflected by the fact that he would rather risk another attack than pour water up a terrorist's nose to thwart the attack in the first place, with the result that our success thus far has depended on the incompetence of the bombers themselves, I'd say that this is a rather damning and pathetic display weakness for a US President. Absorb another attack? What are we, the world's javelin catcher?
Sep '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
The quote seems fairly benign to me as well. I disagree with it though.
It depends how you define America. Under Obamas definition yes, of course.
Under my definition, I'm not sure America really survived the last one. And with Obama and Democrats, their first instinct will be to police the existing population further and without nuance. They will use the attack politically and they will seek to polarize the American people. There is no evidence I've seen based on their past actions that they wouldn't.
It is becoming quite clear that law enforcement at every level has assumed a more aggressive posture with all of us and are using "public safety" as their justification.There is little anyone can do as recourse.
Another solid attack and Homeland Security will go into defensive mode making suspects of the entire population
But the ruling elites in government, the land, and most of the population would survive. America as the idea of a free country, not so much.
Aug '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Claire, Taken in context with everything else he does and says - which clearly send the message to our enemies that we are uncertain, self-flagellating, doubtful of our legitimacy as a nation, and feeling guilty for our past - this is the last straw.
Consider his eagerness to minimize the IslamoNazi threat, spreading Sharia Law, and unwillingness to use truthful language - or allow his administration to use unambiguous words.
All the signs indicate he's an extreme narcissist, if not a malignant one. His deeds indicate a malevolent nature and intent regarding America as we've known it. He may as well be President Benedict Arnold.
Can we "absorb" another terrorist attack? Yes. What will it cost us as a nation? Far too much.
Jul '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
I don't think there will ever be another "terrorist" attack. Hasn't that word been eliminated from acceptable use?
Jul '10
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
Claire Berlinski, Ed.: Be fair. Would anyone want the president of the United States to be announcing to Woodward--and thus the world--"One more attack will finish us off?" ·
I suspect most of us would be very fair to Obama if he were not so weasely in defining whom we are fighting and who it is wishing us dead.
Re: "We Can Absorb a Terrorist Attack"
River, check out Roger L. Simon's article on Woodward's book. Simon concludes: